Making Plans

Daniel’s phone alarm went off at seven this morning – his usual wake up time to go to school.  He’d forgotten to turn it off now that it’s spring break, so it woke our whole household.  No harm in rising early if there’s coffee in the house.

Kaleb and Daniel played a few hours on electronics, then I set up the indoor ping pong table to get them to move around a little.  Kory and I took off to the mall to get a few last minute things before the stores closed early and for the next two days.  The lines in every store looked like Costco at Christmas.  Crazy busy.  I bought a ham a few days ago when I saw at least a hundred of them on the end cap of a refrigerated aisle.  I wondered then if I should buy it, or wait, and my instincts told me not to wait.  Good thing – they were all gone by today.  I can’t believe how fast food items move through the stores here.  It’s almost like shopping at Costco – if I don’t buy it when I see it, when I go back, it may not be there. 

We ran into Josef Kloven at the store, a guy we know from Seattle.  His father and Kory’s father were very good friends back in the 60s.  Josef married a Norwegian woman and they are living here now so it was good to see him.  We invited him over for dinner in June when his mom will be here visiting.  We also ran into my friend, Melinda, from my Norwegian class, so we had a little chat time with her.  It’s impossible to go to the mall without running into someone we know – but that’s part of the charm of being here.

When we got home, the house was empty.  I thought maybe Kaleb and Daniel went to the mall to look for us, but fortunately I found a note Kaleb left behind (how responsible!) saying that Daniel’s mom came and took them over to his house so they could play over there.  I guess our house was just a bit too boring, even with the instant conversion of the kitchen table into a ping pong table.

Kory finished up a drawing he was working on of a fishing boat surrounded by seagulls (see photo).  He tried a new style using india ink and pen. (He doesn't like it.) I finished loading up all the photos from last summer with Tobias into a digital photo book.  I’m far from being done with the book but at least I got the photos assembled the way I want.  I’m hoping to have it done to give it to him as a Confirmation present in June.  It was fun to remember back to all the things we did with him.  Whenever we ask him what his favorite part of the trip was, he always says, “All of it.”  I can see why.  Many good memories.

We picked up Kaleb and went to dinner at Andre’s house.  (Top photo is of the view from their place. Photo above is of the fine table that Andre set for us - he was pretty proud.) Since his whole family is coming for a visit this summer, we needed another planning session on what their options are while they are in America.  We realized Seafair is happening then, so we put a few more things on the calendar.  They are overwhelmed with the idea of coming to America, since none of them have done it before.  They said they wouldn’t know the first thing to do, so all of it will be good, hopefully.

We stopped by Cousin/Doctor Odd’s house on our way home, even though it was nearly 11pm, because Kaleb had some swelling on his gum near his back tooth.  He’s in so much pain he didn’t eat anything for dinner.  I was worried he might have an infection and if he is going away for three days to the mountains, I wouldn’t be able to keep an eye on it, so we needed Odd’s professional opinion.  No dentists are open until next Tuesday after Easter break, which made me stress a little bit more, but after Odd looked at it he said he would be fine for now – that maybe he’ll need to see a dentist next week but there’s nothing to worry about - unless of course Kaleb starves to death between now and then.  That boy doesn’t have much meat on his bones.  I made sure he ate some yogurt before he went to bed – no chewing required.  But I have noticed that Kaleb doesn’t feel all his aches and pains nearly as much when he’s just with his friends.  When I’m around – it’s a different story – so it’s hard to tell when he’s in real pain or when he’s pulling a fast one.  He’s the ultimate boy who cries wolf.  Maybe that’s why he’s such a dog lover.